Return

In June 2018 a total of 51 persons returned voluntarily with the assistance of IOM Finland. This is a lower number than in May and also compared to the same month in the previous year. Overall this year, 447 migrants have returned to their countries of origin through IOM's Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programme.

Return migration is not only flying back home. A flight of a few hours might change the physical location of the returnee but adjusting mentally to being back takes much more time. Reintegration should not be counted in hours but in weeks and months. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to successful reintegration, comprehensive support helps restarting the life back home.

IOM Finland and the Icelandic authorities have agreed to continue their cooperation on migrant returns. IOM Finland will continue to provide Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) services to eligible migrants who wish to return home from Iceland at least until January of 2020.

In April 2018 a total of 49 persons returned with the assistance of IOM Finland. It is a lower number compared to the year before. Overall this year 339 migrants have returned to their countries of origin through IOM's Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration -programme. Among the returned four have been victims of trafficking, two more cases in April.

From the beginning of the year 290 persons have returned to their countries of origin through IOM's Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration -programme. The majority, 231 persons, have returned to Iraq, but there have been returns to a total of 18 countries.

Over the first two months of the year 2018 almost 200 hundred persons chose to return to their countries of origin from Finland through IOM's programme for Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR). Of these, 161 persons returned to Iraq.